Donaster turns into a fantastic creative outdoor space

Sally Lockey

In just a few weeks we’ll see the area at the front of CAST turned into a fantastic creative outdoor arts space for DN Festival does Space.

The festival is just one of many creative events that will be taking place in the town this summer and we’ve already got so many families excited about coming along and enjoying, maybe even participating in these free activities.

This is where you come in! We need volunteers to help us to make this event a real success for the town. We need people who can give their time up for the day or just a few hours to help with the smooth running of the festival. This will be community arts, meets International arts at its best!

When you say ‘arts’, people will often say, ‘oh that’s not for me’, but so many creative activities fall under that banner that if you say, ‘come and watch a free outdoor performance with an astronaut, or a choir, or come and take part in a fun family event’, then people are more inclined to come along.

The idea of the festival is to get people from the borough to come into the town centre on July 28 and spend some time enjoying the performances that will be taking place throughout the day.

Accessibility and the arts can be a real issue, and we know our friends at CAST have been applauded for making their pantomime fully British Sign Language integrated, this year’s festival has a real focus on accessibility and will feature a signing Princess Leia, interpreted performances and a subtitled cinema screening. This is something we’d love to see others continuing throughout the summer of activities.

We are really pleased to be working with organisations including Doncaster Deaf Trust and The Hesley Group to improve accessibility.

The festival site does offer disabled and Changing Places toilets, within CAST, stair free venues and a Quiet Zone room for people who need to take time away from the hustle and bustle of the festival.

It is important to show that arts can be fun and engaging and we’re bringing this exciting space-themed festival to Doncaster on Saturday July 28 in Sir Nigel Gresley Square and the Village at Waterdale Shopping Centre as well as a pop up cinema event on Friday 27th.

Using the theme of space a number of Yorkshire-based artists will be showcasing ambitious work alongside a small number of handpicked nationally touring pieces. Doncaster’s own Lioness Theatre presenting ‘The Black Stuff’ and Jenkinson-Parks will be some of the many highlights.

As with all our past festivals, empty spaces within the Village at Waterdale Shopping Centre will be reimagined and shop units will become hands-on free activity spaces for families alongside festival food, and pop up performances.